Thanksgiving

We had a delightful Thanksgiving meal with David's mom's family, but the meal occurred on the West Coast, which meant no leftovers to come home to.  So this afternoon we decorated for Christmas while a chicken roasted in the oven.  We've developed the tradition of a Thanksgiving chicken, since a turkey is really too much for the 2 of us.  This chicken was especially sweet, since it was a Trader Joe's free-range organic chicken that we got for half price and only 30 minutes away, rather than 2 hours away at the closest TJ's.  How, you may ask?  Well, when Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, the TJ's out there were without power, so they could not take their perishable food since they had no way of keeping it cold.  Instead, the trucks got routed to anywhere that would take the food, and a little store in Kalona, IA did!  I drive past Kalona for work most days, so I stopped a few times, and on one trip I got this little bird - 5 lbs for less than $5 (regularly $2.49/lb)!  Tonight I quartered a half onion, smashed a few cloves of garlic, rubbed the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled on some rosemary, sage, and thyme.  I started the bird at 450 for 10 minutes (the high heat makes for a crispier skin), then lowered the oven temperature to 375 for another 2 hours and 20 minutes.  After the chicken had been roasting for about an hour, there were enough juices to baste it with, so I spooned some up and drizzled them over the skin every 20 minutes or so.  Oh man, did it turn out good!  As you can see, we also had some green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, and a bowl of salad with the final spinach from our garden (not pictured since we ate it while we waited for the chicken to cool).  While we ate, we talked about all the many things for which we are thankful.  We are so blessed.  "All good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above, so thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love!"